Caisson.



PATYENTED MAY 10, 1904,

D. E. MORAN.

GAISSON.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE so. 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHBET 1.

NO MODEL.

FIG. 2.

INVENTOR 360M Jlorm WITNESSES;

THE NORRIS PETERS co, PHOTO-LITHO.WASNINDTON 0.

PATENTED MAY 10; 1904.

D. E. MORAN.

GAISSON.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE a0, 1903.

mums-411mm; 2.

N0 MODEL.

FIG. 3.

nmimui um! um INVENTOR g My,

By Altameys,

WITNESSES m: NORRIS PETERS co, FHOTO-LITHQ, WASHANGTON. n r.

Patented May 10, 1904.

UNITED STATES PPATENT ()FFICE.

DANIEL E. MORAN, OF MENDHAM, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR OF TVVO-g THIRDS TOEDWIN S. JARRETT, OF NEWV YORK, N. Y., AND FRANK- LIN REMlNGrTON, OFGREENWICH, CONNECTICUT.

CAISITSON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 759,389, dated May 10,1904.

Original application filed May 24, 1902, Serial No. 108,835. Divided andthis application filed June 30, 1903. Serial No. 163,7{i8- (N inodel.)

To all whom, it may concern:

sey, have invented certain new and'useful Iming is a specification.

The present application is in part a division. of my prior application,Serial No. 108,835, filed May 24, 1902, embracing certain improvementsover the specific form of the invention .therein shown and claiming theinventionbroadly, so as to include all the several modificationsillustrated in the two applications, as

' a structure which can be expeditiously built well as all otherequivalents thereof.

The improvements are especially applica-. ,ble to pneumatic caissons andare aimed at, securing economy in construction by dispens-1 ing with thenecessity'for using a great por-, tion of the steel or timberconstruction now' commonly used, securing a smooth outer sur face,insuring greater speed in the building .tion or the. joints presentedby.timber conand sinking of the caisson, and making possible the formationof the finished pier in an.

uninterrupted mass without the transverse division commonly occurring atthe roof of the;-

working chamber.

after.

The accompanying drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention.

Figure l is a transverse section of acom-l plete pneumatic caissonembodying the lnvention, the section being taken on the line 1 1 of Fig.2. Fig. 2 is a'horizontal section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

diately above. trating another embodiment of the invention.

The complete caisson embodying all the features of improvement is formedentirely of masonry, having a smooth masonry outer sur Fig. 3 is acentral longi-' tudinal section of the working chamber and; the portionof the body of the caisson imme-f' Fig. 4 is a similar View illus- Lblock of concrete, or. partly in' one way and struction, whereby thesinking of the caisson Be it knownjthat I, DANIEL E;. MORAN, a citia zenof theUnited States, residing at Mendham, 3 in the county of Morris andState of New J eris greatly facilitated and the cost is also reduced.With the ordinary construction a coffer-dam of timber or steel surroundsthe well in which the pier is to be built and is left in place as ashell surroundingsuch pier, but of no value after the pier is finished.My invention provides a great economy in dispensing with thiscoifer-dam. Certain features of the invention are of value whatever bethe form of the masonry body; but preferably this body extends solidlythroughout its height from the .usual or any suitable internal shaft tothe outer surface of the caisson, thus providing by reason of itssimplicity and the weight of which sinks the caisson very rapidly andgenerally without extraneous weight and which, most important of all,forms a substantially solid pier of maximum weightsupportingcross-section. The weight on such piers when used for foundations onland acts by direct compression Without appreciable transverse bucklingstrains, such as are present in ordinary columns, and theweight-supporting power is in substantially direct proportion to thesolid cross-section. Ordinarily the internal shaft will also be filledafter the caisson has been sunk to its proper depth, so as to form Iprefer to use concrete as the material of which the caisson is formed,and the concrete may be mixed and molded immediately on the ground wherethe work is going on or at some other place, and it may be eithermoldedin separate .blocks or rings, in which case the caissonis up bycementing the parts together, or it may be formed by molding one sectionabove another directly on the caisson, so

as to {form the whole i nfav substantially single to build, since I mayhave the successive sections of concrete molded either in place orotherwise.

I prefer to make not only the body of the caisson of masonry, but toextend this material continuously to substantially the lower edge of thecaisson, so as to avoid the weakness found in the present caissons, inwhich a roof over the working chamber divides the body of the caissonfrom the lower portion immediately surrounding the working chamber andforms substantially a transverse division or cleavage plane at the planeof the roof. By forming the whole of an uninterrupted mass of masonrythis weakness is avoided.

Referring to the drawings, a rectangular caisson is illustrated havingits length about twice its width, but forms of circular or othercross-section are equally possible with my improvement.

A is the working chamber, providing space for one or more workmen tofill a bucket B, which is raised and lowered through a vertical shaft C,the working chamber and shaft being, as usual, kept under a greater orless pneumatic pressure, depending upon the depth of the caisson.

-D is an air-lock at the top of theshaft, provided with a lower door Eand an upper door (not shown) which operates in the usual way to permitthe bucket to be withdrawn without the escape of much air. 7

The working chamber is preferably formed in a single block of concrete,the side walls F and the roof G in substantially one, and the roof beingpreferably arched and formed in horizontal steps H to provide a flathorizontal bearing between the subsequent concretefilling and the roofofthe caisson. Preferably, also, grooves J are formed in the horizontalsteps to lock the filling with the Walls and roof of the chamber andprevent lateral spreading of the walls. The cutting edge K may bebeveled, as shown, and formed simply of concrete, or it may:bereinforced in any suitable way with wood or metal.

The body of the caisson above the working chamber is preferably formedof concrete extending continuously from the shaft to the outer face, asexplained, though it is not essential that the concrete shall extendentirely out as far as the vertical planes of the edges of the workingchamber. When the concrete extends throughout the thickness, it may beeither in two parts, as shown in Fig. 1, orin a single block, as shownin Fig. 3. In Fig. 1 the main blocks L extend nearly to the shaft, andinternal tubular blocks M of approximately dumb-bell shape incross-section, as shown in Fig. 2, fit within the outer blocks L andform the shaft C itself. The blocks M may be mounted in place and theblocks L molded around them, or vice versa, or each block may beseparately formed and then inserted in place. The dumb-bell shape'of theshaft is of value as providing, in effect, two shafts, one for thebucket and one for the mena matter very desirable for the safety of themen. The section shown provides this feature 'in as small a space aspossible, so as to keep down the quantity of air required and so as toguide the bucket on practically all four sides and to prevent it frompossibly swinging over against the ladder, which may also mostconveniently be formed in the narrow spacebetween the two shafts, as bymeans of bolts N, embedded in the concrete at this point. Preferably thejoints between the working chamber and the body of the caisson and alsothe joints throughout the body of the caisson are cemented together, soas to form substantially the whole caisson in a monolith of concrete.Preferably, also, to economize air I propose to coat the inner face ofthe working chamber and also the inner wall of the shaft with a coatingof air-tight material, preferably using a paint containinglime or thelike, so as to insure a good union between the subsequent concretefilling and the old concrete of the caisson.

It is ordinarily necessary to connect the airlock to the shaft by meansof a strong connection to prevent its being forced up from the shaft,with a consequent leakage at the top of the shaft. I propose to connectthe lock by means of bolts 0, which may extend down anyv suitabledistance in the concrete at the sides of theladder. They may, in fact,extend entirely down and be fastened to the roof of the working chamber.Obviously, also, these connecting bolts or rods might be run down in theopen space between the two parts of the shaft adjacent to the ladder. Ipropose to use also, with or without the holding-down bolts 0, a devicewhich may be very simply utilizednamely, a load carried directly by theair-lock, so as to hold it down on the shaft and at the same time assistin the sinking of the caisson. For example, I may provide bracketsformed by channel or angle irons P, attached to the air-lock andcarrying rings or bars or other shapes of iron Q, so as to very muchincrease the weight of the air-lock itself. I/Vith this construction Imay provide the bottom of the air-lock with a flange R for fitting itproperly in the top of the shaft and around which is placed a ring ofany suitable packing S. The upper edge of the shaft may be reinforced,as by an angle-iron T. The weights Q are preferably sufficient to holdthe lock down with a pressure which compacts the packing-ring S to make'a joint tight against the uplift of the compressed air.

As shown in Fig. 3, the internal portion of the caisson immediatelysurrounding the airshaft G is integral with the blocks L, which extendto the outer face of the caisson; otherwise this figure representssubstantially the same caisson shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The caisson may also, as illustrated in Fig.

4, be provided witha metal shaft U, which may be provided with a gate Vat its lower end. The entire construction may be directly molded inplace without the horizontal joints indicated in the previous figures.The face of the working chamber may bepyramidal instead of arched andmay be formed in steps H without the grooves previously described. Atie-rod W may be used for insuring against the spread of the walls. Thecutting edge may consist of plates of metal X, to which are attachedangle-irons Y, and the latter may be connected by means of rods Z to thebase of the shaft U.

The advantages of the invention might of course be secured by makingonly a part of the height of the caisson solid or otherwise, accordingto the invention. Though concrete is to be preferred, I may also usestone or brick or any combination of different kinds of masonry. Forexample, the working chamher, with its roof, may be of concrete and. theremainder of stone or brick, or the working chamber and shaft alone maybe of concrete.

The construction illustrated in Fig. 4 is not claimed in detail in thisapplication, being the subject of specific claims in my application,Serial No. 108,835, aforesaid.

Though I have described with great particularity of detail certainembodiments of my invention, yetit is to be understood that theinvention is not limited to the specific forms disclosed. Variousmodifications thereof may be made by those skilled in the art in detailand in the arrangement and combination of the parts without departurefrom the invention.

What I claim is 1. A pneumatic caisson having an internalvertically-extending portion of masonry and in which is a verticalshaft-opening and having a working chamber of suitable dimensions toaccommodate a workman, the roof of said chamber being of masonry to forma substantially uninterrupted mass of masonry without a transversedivision at the roof when the chamber is filled to form the finishedpier.

2. A pneumatic caisson having an internal vertically-extending portionof concrete and in which is a vertical shaft-opening and having aworking chamber of suitable dimensions to accommodate a workman, theroof of said chamber being of concrete to form a substantiallyuninterrupted mass of concrete without a transverse division at the roofwhen the chamber is filled to form the finished pier.

3. A pneumatic caisson having its outer por-- tion of masonry, having aninternal verticallyextending portion of masonry and in which is avertical shaft-opening, and having a Working chamber of suitabledimensions to accommodate a workman, the roof of said chamber being ofmasonry to form a substantially uninterrupted mass of masonry without atransverse division at the roof when the chamber is filled to form thefinished pier.

41 A pneumatic caisson having a working chamber of suitable dimensionsto accommodate a workman, the roof of said chamber being of concrete toform a substantially uninterrupted mass of concrete withouta transversedivision at the roof when the chamber is filled to form the finishedpier, and an internal shaft portion of concrete extending upward fromsaid roof and molded substantially in one with said roof and having avertical shaftopening extending therethrough.

5. A pneumatic caisson having an internal shaft-opening, having a bodyformed of masonry extending solidly from such opening to the outersurface of the caisson and having a working chamber of suitabledimensions to accommodate a workman, the roof of said chamber being ofmasonry to form a substantially uninterrupted mass of masonry without atransverse division at the roof when the chamber is filled to form thefinished pier.

6. A caisson having a cutting edge of masonry.

7. A caisson having a working chamber formed of masonry and with itsface formed in steps.

8. A caisson having a working chamber formed of masonry and with itsface formed in steps, and grooves formed in said steps to interlock withthe filling.

9. A caisson including a body and a working chamber formed together in amonolith of.

concrete.

10. A caisson having its outer portion of masonry, and aseparately-formed, internal, vertically-extending portion of concrete inwhich is a vertical shaft-opening.

11. A pneumatic caisson having an air-lock weighted sufiiciently to holdit down against the uplift due to the compressed air.

12. A pneumatic caisson formed of masonry and having an air-lock, andholding-down rods connecting said air-lock to the masonry of thecaisson.

13. A pneumatic caisson having a shaft providing two passages ofsuitable width with a narrower space connecting them so that the bucketis embraced and guided on substantially all sides.

14. A pneumatic caisson having a shaft of substantially dumb-bell shape,and a ladder in the narrow portion of the shaft.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my namein the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

DANIEL E. MORAN.

Witnesses:

DOMINGO A. USINA, FRED WHITE.

' by mesne assignments.

Enters this disclaimer as follows:

759,389.'Dam'el E. Moran, Mendhaln, N. J. CAISSON. Patent dated May1904. Disclaimer filed January 19, 1915, by The Foundation Company,

1. \Vhere the specification and claims of said patent refer petitionerdisclaims all materials except concrete or equivalent pl 2. Where thespecification and claims refer to oaissons or a pier your petitionerdisclaims all caissons or piers except pneumatic caissons DISCLAIMER.

assignee,

to masonry your astic material.

or a caisson or piers and caissons or piers sunk on land. for formingfoundations for building on land.

[Ofii'cz'al Gazette, January 26, 1 9151]

